The present invention relates generally to computing security, and more particularly but not exclusively to dynamically combating spamming and other related abusive activities using computing robots configured to learn to probe for the abusive activities.
There is no question that that the explosive growth of the Internet in recent years has changed the way people communicate. For example, today, people are using email, Instant Messaging (IM), Short Messaging Services (SMS), chat rooms, and the like. Moreover, people are employing such communication messaging services on their laptops, and desktops, as well as their mobile phones.
With the increase in use of the Internet for communications has also come an increase in the use of mass marketing using email. This form of marketing has become an attractive advertising mechanism for individuals, businesses, and the like, because it enables them to reach a large audience at a minimal cost. Nevertheless, the use of email in this manner is often problematic for, and undesired by the recipients. Hence, a term, SPAM, has arisen to describe this type of useless or unsolicited email messages. Furthermore, similar unsolicited messages have recently migrated to IM, as SPIM.
In addition to these undesired messages, the internet has introduced many people to a type of fraud, known as phishing. Phishing typically involves the practice of obtaining confidential information through the manipulation of legitimate users. Typically, the confidential information is a user's password, credit card details, social security number, or other sensitive user information. Phishing may be carried out by masquerading as a trustworthy person, website, or business. In one approach, a message may be sent to an unsuspecting user. The message may include a link or other mechanism that links to an illegitimate source. In another approach, a webpage that may appear to be legitimate is provided to the user. However, the webpage (or message) is designed to trick the user into providing their confidential information. Such webpages (or messages) may relate to account log-in sites, credit card entry sites, or the like. Once the unsuspecting user enters their information, the phisher may be able to obtain the sensitive information and use it to create fake accounts in a victim's name, ruin the victim's credit, make purchases under the victim's name, sell the information to others, perform acts under the victim's identity, or even prevent the victim from accessing their own money and/or accounts.
Unfortunately, this type of fraudulent activity is becoming more popular, primarily because of how easy it is to convince people to divulge their sensitive information over the internet. Because victims to these attacks may reduce their activities over the internet with websites that have been phished, many legitimate businesses may also suffer both financially, and in their reputation.
Use of the internet becomes even more disconcerting when one considers the abuses within online chat rooms. A chat room is a way of communicating by sending, for example, text messages to others using a form of synchronous conferencing, or even occasionally asynchronous conferencing. Although many such chat rooms attempt to enforce a quality of behavior by its uses, many chat rooms remain a bastion for abuse, fraud, and potential phishing scams. Some chat rooms may also be unsafe for use by such individuals as children.
Thus, it is no surprise that such activities as SPAM, SPIM, phishing, and misuse of chat rooms have resulted in many people becoming more frustrated with their service providers. They expect their service providers, or others, to protect them from such abuses. Thus, it is with respect to these considerations, and others, that the present invention was made.